A Complete Guide to Education Scholarships in Nigeria

You may have heard the word scholarship right from the cradle, that’s because it is synonymous with education. Quickly, permit me to ease your thought on the misconception of scholarship. Students like you may have the notion that scholarship is meant for the poor and needy, well, that’s just a part of the whole scope.

Scholarship from education perceptive is a deliberate act by a donor to provide you with financial aid based on your academic performance or merit for the purpose of schooling. Scholarships are monetary gifts given to you for continuous education. This gift may or may not have some strings attached…

So how is Bursary different from Scholarships?
A bursary is a monetary gift given to you by the university where you study after meeting up with a certain requirement. You must be a registered student from the university to receive a bursary. Bursary according to Wikipedia is a monetary award made by an institution to individuals or groups of people who cannot afford to pay full fees.

In return for the bursary, the individual is usually obligated to be employed at the institution for the duration of the bursary. This last sentence from Wikipedia’s definition of a bursary is not complete fact. Most Busary do not have strings attached and some bursary may be used for other things aside from education.

Types of Education based Scholarship:

• Performance/Merit-Based Scholarship
  This scholarship is common and advertised on media as well as search engines. They are fully dependent on your academic performance or talent in a given field. Unlike Need-based scholarships, your income profile is a not criteria but can serve as an added advantage if the scholarship is partial. Full scholarship caters for all your monetary requirements while partial scholarship may only attend to a specific need such as tuition fee, travel fee, feeding allowance, etc.

• Need-based Scholarships:
  Most Need-based scholarships for university education are dependent on merit or performance of a student. No donor would want to waste money and goodwill on a duller. Need-based scholarships will be offered if you have little or no income profile. What I meant is – this type of scholarship was designed to provide you or your guidance with money for the purpose of schooling. The donor may also consider your country, state of origin, residential address, sex, education level, employment etc. Money from this scholarship is usually paid in full or on annual bases after careful consideration. This money can be paid to you or guidance directly. This scholarship is common in undeveloped countries or rural areas

• Minority Scholarship:
  These are scholarships that are minority specific for the purpose of improving psychological, social, hospitability and International relations among the ethnicity. Sorry for the English – What I meant is their first criteria for qualification is based on gender (scholarship for women), certain minorities and inviting qualified students from other countries for education.

So Who offer Scholarships
Scholarship has no regulatory body, so anyone can offer a scholarship. The most popular scholarship donor comes from

• Federal Government
• State Government
• Private Organisations
• Philanthropist

Requirements/Qualifications for Scholarship:

Qualification/Requirement for a scholarship differs and are usually specified by the donor. Remember I told you earlier that scholarship may be based on Academy performance, Disability and Minority. If you wish to study abroad through a scholarship, the common requirements are

• Certificate: School Leaving Certificate, First Degree etc. In cases where you cannot get those document before scholarship deadline, you can request for preliminary documents such as Statement of Result, Affidavit etc.

• Resume: If you’re a student with little or no work experience, provide a Functional Resume for your scholarship which details your skill and educational background. If you’re a student with experience, provide a chronological Resume which details your skill, work experience, educational background, research works etc. It is important you research the resume format of the specific country you wish to study. You should also attach a cover letter detailing why you deserve the scholarship.

• Language Certificate: There are different types of Language Certificate but the common ones are; Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). These two are widely accepted among International scholarship donors. This certificate cannot be bought. If you’re hoping to get a scholarship soon, have one of these certificates ready.

• Letter of Recommendation: This is not your everyday letter, so don’t rush it. You should check the scholarship specific requirement for Letter of recommendation. Some may require a recommendation from School authority, Government or Clergy.

• Bank Statement: Merit-based scholarships may request for your bank statement as part of your application process.  This is to ensure that you have enough money for other expenses not covered by the scholarship.

Who can qualify for Education Scholarships
Literally, who qualifies for education scholarships depends on the mode of scholarship

• High School Student
• Undergraduates
• Graduates
• Post Graduates

What are the expenses covered by a Scholarship?
Scholarship programs whether partial or full, work based on cost allocation. If a full scholarship program grants you 5000 $, this money will be spread across all compulsory monetary obligations. A partial scholarship program may only attend to special needs with an understanding that you can cover the rest from your own pocket.
Generally, the cost covered by a scholarship includes

• Travelling
• Accommodation
• Tuition Fee
• Feeding
• Educational Materials

 How to Get a Scholarship to study abroad
The internet is shrouded with scholarships to study abroad – be careful not to fall for a scam. Anyone or any site demanding a fee to fill a scholarship registration form is a painted scam. You can get a scholarship to study abroad very easily but first I want to list out different types of scholarships to study abroad

• Government-funded scholarships to study abroad: These scholarships are catered for by the Federal, State or Local Government. It often encourages a student to study abroad and foster the international relationship between inviting countries

• Private Organization scholarships to study abroad: These scholarships are usually funded by private individuals, companies, NGOs, to deserving students.

• Student-specific scholarship to study abroad: These are scholarships offered based on the minority. For example, a scholarship programme whose target is females below the age of 18. Merit is also a criterion during the application process

• Location-based scholarships to study abroad: These scholarships are very common and the major purpose is to encourage students to study outside their own country.

When you’re sure of the type of scholarship you wish to apply for, go ahead and create a Google alert. For example, if you wish to apply for a Location-based scholarship to study abroad, use should a winged keyword on Google alert
Example:

• Study abroad scholarship in Nigeria Germany.
• Abroad study scholarship in South Africa Denmark

Google will notify you of a newly published post containing this query. You can create as many alerts. This is good as it keeps you up-to-date and saves hours of searching the internet for scholarships to study abroad. Here is a guide on how to easily get scholarships to study abroad

So what are you still waiting for? Studying abroad through scholarship is not as difficult as some bloggers loud it. All you need is the right information. Apply Now
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